Next to Normal Composer Tom Kitt and Wife Rita Welcome Baby Girl

Tom Kitt with wife Rita and son Michael at the opening of Next to Normal

Next to Normal creator Tom Kitt welcomed a new addition to his family on April 22. Julia Laura Kitt was born at 11:04am to the composer and his wife, Rita. Clocking in at a healthy eight pounds, four ounces, the baby girl and her mother are both doing “very well” at Manhattan’s St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital.

Kitt chatted with Broadway.com as he prepared to bring his son, Michael, to meet the baby for the first time. “He’s excited, but he doesn’t know quite what to expect, I think,” Kitt said of his son. “He’s going to be four in May. I’m interested to see how he responds to meeting his sister.”

As for the timing of the newborn’s arrival, Kitt said it couldn’t be more perfect. “We were really glad that Julia held out for another week,” Kitt said, explaining that he worried that his wife wouldn't make it to Next to Normal’s opening on April 15.

Kitt’s Next to Normal, which he wrote with lyricist/librettist Brian Yorkey, had successful productions at both Second Stage where it won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Score and received Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Drama League nominations and Arena Stage where it was nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards, including Best Musical. He composed the music for High Fidelity on Broadway and From Up Here off-Broadway. As a musical director, conductor and arranger, his credits include 13,Hair, Laugh Whore,Urban Cowboy and Debbie Does Dallas. He is the musical supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for Everyday Rapture at Second Stage. He is also the leader of The Tom Kitt Band.

“She hasn’t played the piano or written a song yet,” Kitt joked about his new daughter. “There’s still time for that.”